“Food Comes First”: The Development of Colonial Nutritional Policy in Ghana, 1900–1950
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-4-2018
Department
Department of Social Sciences
Abstract
This article examines the origins of colonial-era nutrition policy in Ghana (the colonial Gold Coast). It shows how imperial ideas about food and nutrition evolved in response to changing conditions in Ghana, as well as in response to new ideas originating outside Africa. British officials initially assumed food was abundant, identifying a growing taste for imports among urban elites as a key problem. By the early 1920s, new personnel with new priorities began to investigate local foodways, laying the groundwork for policies emphasizing nutrition, food production, and domestic education that were often continued into the post-colonial period.
Publication Title
Global Food History
Recommended Citation
Robins, J.
(2018).
“Food Comes First”: The Development of Colonial Nutritional Policy in Ghana, 1900–1950.
Global Food History,
4(2), 168-188.
http://doi.org/10.1080/20549547.2018.1465330
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16075